Pansies or Real Men Wear Pink
by Nikki Flinn
Summary: Pansy suddenly got a horrible idea. "Let's do it."    "Do what?"    "Find Draco's perfect girl." Pansy/Blaise, Blaise/Padma, Ron/Hermione and  of Course  Draco/Ginny
1. Monday, October 3rd

Pansies or Real Men Wear Pink

Monday October 3rd

Pansy had one weakness: Ducks. She wasn't sure what it was about them, especially when they were still ducklings, but she deeply and devoutly loved them.

Of course she was taking this secret to the grave. You didn't survive as the Queen of the Slytherins if you had a weakness. She was reasonably sure Draco wouldn't mind her secret but she had long since stopped caring what Draco thought about her. She had bigger fish to fry. Like Blaise.

Blaise, who made her toes curl just thinking about him. While Draco was the King of Slytherin, Blaise was the handsome, dashing Duke de Corsica. And Pansy very much liked Spain.

But her romance with Blaise would have to wait until she was over her current love of ducks. She would not show any weakness to him.

"And what are you up to?"

Pansy nearly jumped and turned to look at Blaise. "Just thinking," she replied, slightly breathless.

"About?" Blaise pressed, taking a seat beside her. They were in the Slytherin common room. She had taken over her usual couch, where she could see the entire room while working on an essay for Defense Against the Dark Arts. She was finished with the essay and her mind was blank.

Fortunately Draco chose this moment to enter the common room, once again surrounded by hopeful Slytherin girls. His hands were deep in his pockets and his head was down. Pansy knew the particular reason for his current dark phase. With the war over, Weasley boy and Granger girl, the faithful sidekicks had finally acknowledged their fascination with each other and gotten together. Pansy saw no down side to this. Granger had gotten a lot more lenient with her Prefect duties, making everyone's lives easier and Weasley was easier to distract and torment.

This arrangement left Potter out in the cold though and that was the side of the equation that Draco seemed to want to exploit.

Since the Slytherin King was adverse to a real relationship with any girl for reasons she was not privy to, he had taken to randomly grabbing a Slytherin girl and letting her cling to him until Potter was gone. Unfortunately for Draco, every girl in Slytherin wanted him like that and he was finding it hard to get rid of the girls once they started clinging. Pansy had considered making a formal announcement and becoming his girl but she was afraid of what Blaise would say.

"Draco," Pansy replied. "I was thinking about Draco."

Something dark flickered through Blaise's eyes and he looked over at Draco as the Slytherin King stalked his way to the Head boy's room.

"What about him?" Blaise asked and Pansy felt there was a bit more ice than necessary in his voice. Just what did Blaise have against Draco?

"He needs a girlfriend."

"You volunteering?" Blaise asked.

"God no," Pansy snapped and Blaise laughed. "I like him enough but we would never work."

"Good to know," Blaise replied. "Good luck with finding Draco a one true love, though."

Pansy looked over at him. "Why do you say that?"

Blaise relaxed back. "Draco's got some pretty high standards."

"Like?"

"Like she has to be smart. She has to not care about social status. She has to not care how much money he has."

"Does such a person exist?" Pansy asked and Blaise laughed again.

"Not sure. But now you see what I mean. And those are only a few on the list."

Pansy suddenly got a horrible idea. "Let's do it."

"Do what?"

"Find Draco's perfect girl."

8()8()8

Draco Malfoy was in a foul mood and it was all that Damn Potter's fault.

It had started as such a great plan, he reflected. Torment Potter's failure at being able to procure a girl by hanging with every Slytherin girl he possibly could. If Potter's face wasn't precious enough, it added to his playboy status which was not a bad thing.

The problem was these silly girls seemed to think he meant it.

Draco flopped on his bed and reflected on the whole situation. There wasn't a girl in the lot of them that he would even consider dating. They were all pretty which had never really been an issue to him. Sure he would like an attractive mate but it wasn't necessary. He'd rather like brains.

If it hadn't been obvious from the beginning that Granger was going to end up with Weasley, Draco might have tried there. Now she was fair game. Ridiculously intelligent fair game. So far as he knew the only other two people who came close to her level of intelligence were Pansy (who was so ridiculously in love with her mental image of Blaise in duck pajamas that she wasn't even worth considering) and that youngest Weasley kid, Gen or Gin whatever his name was.

Draco suddenly found himself thinking about that kid. He hadn't thought about that Weasley in almost four years. It helped that the boy stayed far out of his way. Still, Draco reflected, if he had been gay, the boy would have been his type.

Draco suddenly grinned. Maybe he would. Be gay. Not really, but if he made the moves on Gen or Gin this Hogsmeade weekend he would not only get the privilege of seeing Potter turn new shades of red when the boy doubtless returned his affections, but he would get to see Weasley boy's head explode.

Draco laughed aloud, happy for the first time all day.

He sat up as his owl flew into the room, bearing a large cream envelope with the Malfoy insignia on it. Draco winced a little but he was still in a relatively good mood from coming up with a new torture to inflict on Potter so he got up and took the letter.

It was from his mother and cordially worded.

Draco, my darling son,

It grieves me to no end to know that you have not yet chosen to pursue a romantic interest. I'm sure you believe you have all the time in the world, but I might add that you need to find a girlfriend. After all your father and I...

The letter continued in that vein for some time, reminding Draco that it was never too early to find the woman of his life.

Draco crumpled the letter. He supposed he should be grateful that the war was over and his parents were finished trying to pressure him into being a Death Eater but this was almost worse.

Still it was nice to know that they cared. Kinda nice.

He sighed and walked to his desk to write a letter back.

8()8()8

Ginny played with a strand of hair as she lay on her back on Hermione's bed. They were in the Head Girl's room and Ginny was having serious consternation as to whether she wanted to cut her hair again.

On the one hand she liked her hair at this length. Her hair was cut boyishly short right now and in addition to the baggy hand-me down robes she always wore, she was often being mistaken for a boy. She kind of liked that. Her perchance towards androgynous had been a great help during the war and kept the men-sharks of Hogwarts from bothering her too much.

On the other hand, she kind of fancied having a boyfriend. There wasn't much she could do about her clothes but that sort of thing never bothered her like it would have bothered Lavender. She liked her jeans and baggy tee shirts. After all she didn't have the greatest rack in the world and she was okay with that but that didn't mean the guys wouldn't notice that she was only a B cup, especially when she stood next to Lavender of the D cups (which she was pretty sure were implants).

"Hermione, should I cut my hair again?"

Hermione looked up from her essay (which wasn't due for another month). "It's your decision but I think you look lovely with longer hair."

Ginny examined her hair again then got up and looked at herself in Hermione's full length mirror. Her hair looked like a rock star's, long in the front but trimmed to the nape of her neck in the back. It looked cute on her but boyish and with her freckles, her face looked cute but not beautiful or lovely.

Ginny grabbed one of Hermione's head bands and pulled it on. Her hair stuck up randomly behind the head band but she focused on her face. With the bangs back, her freckles didn't seem so noticeable and her brown eyes seemed somehow prettier.

"I think I will grow it out," Ginny announced. "How long do you think it will take?"

Hermione finally put her pen down and crossed to Ginny. She took the head band out of Ginny's hair and fingered the soft strands. "On average hair grows six inches a year."

Ginny groaned. "Six inches a year? God, this will take forever!"

Hermione laughed. "Well, how long to you want it?"

Ginny gestured to the middle of her chest. "About here, I think."

Hermione studied her critically. "A hair growth potion would put your hair to the middle of your back," Hermione said, gesturing to a point just above Ginny's naval.

Ginny smiled. "And how long would that take?"

"A week."

"A week! Hermione, you're amazing!"

Hermione laughed. "I'll have a potion ready for you on Friday morning."

"I thought we still had some from the war," Ginny said.

Hermione suddenly blushed. "Well, we did but..."

Ginny suddenly put two and two together. "You gave some to Ron, didn't you?"

Hermione's blush intensified. "I like his hair this long. You remember that week he was in the hospital wing? I kinda slipped some into his medicine until his hair was as long as it is."

Ginny laughed. "I wondered about that. I take it he doesn't know?"

Hermione shook her head. "No and I'd appreciate it if..."

"He won't find out from me. I promise."

Hermione smiled gratefully and Ginny laughed. Hermione watched Ginny laugh and wondered how any guy could think she was really a boy. When she was like this it was so painfully obvious.


	2. Tuesday, October 4th

Tuesday, October 4th

"Remind me again why I agreed to this?" Blaise asked.

Pansy smiled at him. "Because you're just as worried about our darling king."

"The king is dead," Blaise muttered and handed her the roll of parchment he had stolen from Filch's office.

"Would you rather be studying with Lysander Vance?" Pansy asked sweetly.

Blaise shuddered and Pansy understood. Lysander was the only creepy gay guy she had ever met. He liked studying with other guys and he was really intelligent and probably would get better marks if he stopped hitting on every guy he saw, including the teachers.

Strangely he got full marks in Divination.

"All right, I give in," Blaise groused.

"Good boy. Now, let's see what you've brought me."

What he had brought her was a list of every student in the school at this time. It was nearly ten feet long and Pansy wrinkled her nose and pulled out her wand.

"Is this the original or a copy?" she asked.

"Copy," he replied.

"Good," she muttered and tapped the parchment with her wand.

Immediately half the parchment burst into flames. Blaise swore and jumped away. Pansy waited patiently. The flames finally died down and when they were gone, the parchment was down to five feet and all the boys' names had been removed.

"What did you do?" Blaise asked, leaning forward again.

"I got rid of all the boys' names," Pansy explained. "I'm assuming our great king isn't playing Edward the Third in his spare time."

Blaise chuckled, getting the reference. "Safe assumption. Draco isn't a poofter."

Pansy nodded and pulled out another parchment. She scribbled on it for a moment then made to put it away.

"What's that?" Blaise asked.

Pansy showed it to him. Across the top she had written the heading _Draco's Dream Girl_. Underneath that she had one thing written.

1. Must actually be a girl.

Blaise grinned. "Good idea."

"Thanks," she said, setting the parchment beside the list of names. "Now let's see if we can narrow this down any more. What else do we know about his dream girl?"

"Well, I know he wants her to be at least kinda attractive."

Pansy scowled down at the paper in concentration.

"What?" Blaise asked.

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking how best to do this. Do we go with girls he thinks are currently attractive or girls that might one day meet his criteria?"

Blaise rubbed his neck and stared down at the list. This close to her, she could smell him and he smelled very, very good.

"How about we go with girls who could meet his criteria with little or no personal effort? After all if Bullstrode got a facelift and lost some weight, he might like her whereas if Astoria took care of her acne, he'd probably find her attractive."

Pansy nodded and tapped the parchment with her wand before taking another note on her own list as the parchment burned off almost two dozen names.

2. Must be reasonably attractive.

Blaise was frowning at the paper again.

"What?" Pansy asked.

The list was still almost four feet long and it was a little discouraging.

"Well, should we put an age limit on?" He asked.

Pansy looked down at the list. She was sure Draco had an ideal age for his dream girl but she didn't know it and apparently neither did Blaise.

"I think we're going to have to do some research," she said.

8()8()8

Draco was finding it hard to find Gin Weasley. Usually there was a redhead everywhere he looked but now he couldn't seem to find the other Weasley boy. Ronnikins and his girlfriend were annoyingly abundant but that also stemmed from the fact that he was in a lot of classes with the older Weasley.

He was also having issues finding out anything about Gin-boy. His usual Klingons were utterly unhelpful when it came to these sort of things. One of them had professed her love for Gin-boy but had been unable to tell him anything other than that the other boy was a whiz in her Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

All of this meant he was going to have to go to a higher power. Namely, he was going to have to rely on sneaking around.

"Draco!"

Draco turned to see Blaise coming towards him. "Blaise. What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to ask you a question..."

"Please, don't rush. I have all the time in the world," Draco drawled.

Blaise grinned. "Look I was just wondering, would you ever date a first year?"

"Damnit, are first years in love with me again? I've done everything but use them as Quaffles and they keep coming back," Draco growled.

"So that's a no for first years, eh?" Blaise replied with a bright grin.

"That's a hell no."

"Good to know. Out of curiosity, how young would you go?"

Draco actually had to consider that one. "Probably no more than four years younger. Like fourteen would be pushing it. Anything older than that I'd feel comfortable around. I don't think I'd want her much older than me either," he added for good measure.

Blaise nodded. "Thanks. Glad we could have this talk. I'll leave you to your skulking then, shall I?"

Draco nodded solemnly. "I'd much appreciate that."

Blaise chuckled and left. It wasn't until he had been gone a while that Draco thought that he might use Blaise in his plan.

8()8()8

Ginny was glad she had decided not to cut her hair. It was starting to get on her nerves. Her bangs were just below her eyebrows and left a fringe of distraction in the top of her view. Hermione had all the ingredients for the potion and permission from Madam Pomphrey to make it in the infirmary. The potion had to boil for a full day then cool for two days before Ginny could drink it. She and Hermione were going up after dinner to make the potion.

"Ginny?"

Ginny looked up at Hermione's slightly worried face. "What is it?"

"I don't want to alarm you, but Malfoy keeps looking over here."

Ginny frowned and looked over at the Slytherin table. Sure enough, Draco Malfoy was looking directly at her. As she watched, he smirked and leaned closer to the blonde girl by his side.

Ginny made a face and looked back to Hermione. "I don't mind. He's a pig anyway."

Hermione looked at Ginny in a way that meant she was going to start in on her Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy story again. Apparently they were from some Muggle book Hermione had read and their downfall was pride and prejudice or something like that.

But for once, Hermione bit her tongue and turned back to her dinner. But there was still a slight smile on Hermione's face and Ginny could almost read her friend's thoughts.

_Methinks the lady doth protest too much._

8()8()8

Blaise found Pansy after dinner.

"Good news," he announced.

"What?"

"Our boy does not like girls below the age of fourteen and is not interested in older women, unless it's only a few months."

He leaned back, awaiting praise. Pansy did not disappoint.

"That's great, Blaise!" she announced. She wanted to hug him but she firmly reminded herself of ducks and stopped herself in time. "Here, mark it down," she said, pulling out the parchments.

He wrote the new stipulation on the list while she burned off more names. When the fire dissipated, the scroll was about two feet long and had just over a hundred names on it.

"So what next?" he asked, looking at her list.

She bit her lip. "I'm not sure. What do you say?"

"Tell you what, let's meet after breakfast tomorrow. I'm sure we can come up with something."

Pansy smiled back at him, her pulse thundering in her veins.

(A/N: Holy crap, this is a long chapter! 1400 words. I like the Blaise/Draco interaction in this chapter. I wanted to play up their friendship.


	3. Wednesday, October 5th

Wednesday October 5

_Draco's Dream Girl _

_1. Must actually be a girl _

_2. Must be reasonably attractive _

_3. Must be no more than four years younger_

Pansy tapped her teeth with the metal end of her quill. Ink flecked the table she was at and she winced. She waved her wand, muttering a spell.

"I can't take you any where, can I?"

Pansy jumped as Blaise approached the table. He smiled and pulled out a handkerchief, wiping a smudge from her cheek. "You're hopeless, Pansy."

"Sorry," she drawled. "Are we ready?"

He nodded, taking a seat. "As it stands, we have about a hundred girls to try on Draco. It's a lot better than we had, but still, we have too many to run by him over the year."

Pansy nodded. "That's true. We could try a few more things to narrow it down, if you like..."

Blaise nodded. "Yeah. If we can get it below fifty, then we should be able to shove Draco together with one every few days and just see who he hits it off with."

Pansy nodded, looking over the list. "What about girls like Granger?"

"What about them?" Blaise asked.

"Well, Granger is in a steady relationship and unlike Daphne Greengrass, she isn't likely to drop the relationship just because Draco turns his eyes her way."

Blaise looked down at the list. "You're right. There aren't many of them but..."

Pansy nodded. "So we need to do some real research, don't we?"

Blaise nodded. "We can cut Granger because she's...well loyal is the nicest term I can come up with."

Pansy laughed. "That's a nice word for it. So she's off the list," Pansy muttered, tapping the list of girls.

Blaise reached over and jotted the new article on the other list. "So let's check the other girls in existing relationships. I'll take half. We should get them over with by Thursday."

Blaise wrote down ten names on a paper and handed it to her. "Can you handle that?"

Pansy nodded, pretending not to notice that his hand touched hers. _Ducks, Pansy. Until we're over the ducks, we can't have him. To do that, I need to find out who the hell keeps leaving those damn ducks around the common room._

8()8()8

Draco knew about the ducks. He had always known about the ducks. It amused him sometimes to leave little duck figures and stuffed ducks around the common room. He had even transfigured her shirt during a Hogsmeade weekend. She had screamed like a little girl and ran back to Hogwarts. Draco had laughed his ass off.

Currently, he was trying to decide if he wanted to tell Pansy that he knew. It was tempting, since he was having trouble finding Gin Weasley. He was beginning to think the boy really wasn't worth his trouble. And really, what kind of guy was named Gin?

Draco smiled happily as Pansy ducked into the library. He sauntered over to her only to find she was grilling a sixth year Hufflepuff. Loony or something like that.

Draco politely waited until Pansy looked finished with the girl then waltzed over. Luni or what ever her name was, smiled dreamily at him then walked away.

"What was that about?" Draco drawled.

Pansy shrugged. "Just research. What's up?"

"What do you know about the Weasleys?"

"Well, they have a ridiculous amount of children," Pansy said.

"You're so helpful," Draco drawled.

She shrugged, grinning at him. "There's really not a lot to tell. You can look them up if you don't believe me."

Draco assured her that he did trust her but decided he would do just that.

8()8()8

Ginny wrinkled her nose at the potion Hermione had boiling. "Ugh. That looks awful."

Hermione laughed softly. "Then be glad this isn't for you."

"That's not my hair potion?"

"No. That won't be ready until Friday at the earliest. I told you that. Remember?"

Ginny sighed. "Yeah, you did."

Hermione looked at her friend. "What's wrong, Ginny? You're awfully out of it today. I mean, really out of it."

Ginny made a face. "I don't know. I can't seem to concentrate on anything lately. All my classes are too easy."

Hermione chuckled. "You've been spending too much time with me."

Ginny smiled. "Maybe. I just…I'm bored."

"You need a boyfriend," Hermione said. "I'm never bored with Ron around."

Ginny politely refrained from reminding Hermione that she wasn't dating Ron…yet.

888

"What have you got?" Blaise asked.

Pansy held out her list. Of the ten names, eight had little x's in front of them.

"Those are the girls that would not be willing to break up with their current beaus. That takes us to ninety six girls."

Blaise nodded. "Nine of my girls wouldn't dump who they're dating."

Pansy tapped their list again. "Excellent. We're down to eighty five girls." She hesitated a moment then muttered "Of course!"

She tapped the parchment again and grinned happily.

Blaise leaned over the list. "What did you do?"

"Cut all the gay girls."

Blaise did the math. "We have three gay girls in this school?" he asked incredulously.

Pansy laughed and wrote out the two new stipulations on the list.

(A/N: I love writing this fic. Really I do.


	4. Thursday, October 6th

Thursday, October 6th

Draco's Dream Girl

1. Must actually be a girl

2. Must be reasonably attractive

3. Must be no younger than four years

4. Must not be in a committed relationship or must be willing to leave the relationship.

5. Must not be gay.

"Eighty two girls," Blaise said. "That's still thirty more than I would like."

Pansy sighed. "There has to be something else we can do. You think he has a preference for hair color?"

Blaise shook his head. "He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who only dates girls of one hair color. Hell, he doesn't even date."

"He's frustrating," Pansy snarled then suddenly grinned.

"Oh my God! I've got it!"

Blaise lifted an eyebrow at her. "Care to enlighten me?"

She beamed at him. "Intelligence."

His jaw dropped. "Oh my God! You're right!"

She pulled the two lists to her. "All right. How smart is smart enough?"

Blaise bit his lip. "Well, I think anyone who scored over an A on their OWLS should be good, don't you?"

"Well, that will cut out all the fifth and fourth years."

"Hmm. You're right. Do we still want to do that?"

"Why the hell not?"

Pansy tapped the page once. After a second over half the names disappeared. In fact it was only twenty three names left on the page when Pansy was done.

Pansy leaned back, flushed with pride.

Blaise looked down at the twenty three names. "Damn! We can totally cover twenty three."

Pansy looked the list over again and frowned slightly.

"What is it?" Blaise asked, noticing her frown.

"My name's on here."

"Well, we'd better fix that," Blaise said, perhaps a little too quickly. He tapped the list himself and Pansy's name faded from the fifteen slot.

"We've got to get to work, don't we?"

Blaise grinned. "We can run two girls by him a week. At this rate we'll be done before Easter!"

Pansy nodded and looked at the first name on the list. "Let's start with Parvati, shall we?"

8()8()8

Draco Malfoy was not in a pleasant place. And it was all that Weasley boy's fault.

The day started as any Thursday was wont to start. Potions followed by DADA, with that creepy new professor, Professor Raven. He was an odd one who liked to pick favorites. For some reason Draco couldn't understand, not only was he one of the aforementioned favorites, but by proxy, he was expected to excel, something that made no sense to him.

In any case, after getting mildly lauded for a perfect score, Draco resolved to keep his eyes out for the youngest Weasley.

For once, things seemed to be going his way. With in a few moments, he spotted the tell-tale bright crimson of a Weasley. The figure was too short and slight for Ron, and Draco grinned.

"Weasley, boy!" he called out.

For a second the figure hesitated then continued to walk. Draco felt his jaw drop and then pulled himself together and surged through the crowd.

"Gen Weasley! Hold up, lad!"

The Weasley kid was doing no such thing. In fact, Draco was pretty sure he was being ignored. The fact was pretty confirmed when the dark haired figure of Morrietta Gambrelli bumped the boy's shoulder and he immediately turned to greet the Slytherin.

Draco gaped openly. How the hell could any one be attracted to Morrietta? She was so…brusk. What could the boy see in her?

8()8()8

Ginny started as Morrietta tapped her shoulder.

"What kind of fantasy land are you in?" Morrietta asked, tucking back a strand of her dark hair.

Ginny smiled apologetically at her friend. "Sorry, Morrie. I just got a bit distracted."

"Envisioning yourself with long red hair?" Morrie asked.

Ginny grinned. "I take it Hermione told you."

Morrie shrugged which Ginny took as a yes. Morrie was the only Slytherin Ginny and Hermione found themselves able to stand. That wasn't to say she was super nice or anything but she definitely didn't try to kill them in their sleep.

"I think you'll look great. Besides, girls might stop calling you a guy. And who knows, you might get a boyfriend. I know I've seen a few guys lookin' at you."

Ginny looked at her. "Really? Any one in particular?"

Morrie laughed. "Actually, your brother's favorite Slytherin has been takin' a bit of an interest."

Ginny blinked. "Are you kidding?"

Morrie laughed again but she continued to avoid the question for the next day.

8()8()8

"Hey, Draco."

Draco looked over at Blaise who immediately held up his hands in supplication. "Jeez, what's got your panties in a twist?"

Draco sighed. "Nothing. What's up?"

"Have you ever thought of Parvati?"

"The Patil twin? Not particularly. Why?"

"Just wondering. Maybe you should."

Draco sighed. "No thank you."

"What's wrong with her?"

"I have a thing against twins."

"Are you mad? No man on earth doesn't want to get with twins."

"Maybe for a night, Blaise, but not for life. What happens if I want to get married to her? How do I know I'm marrying the right one? They could switch. Then how do I know which one I married?"

Blaise laughed. "Only you would think that was a problem. Very well then. No twins."

"What?"

"Nothing!" Blaise sang, darting out of the room.

8()8()8

"No twins?" Pansy repeated. "What did I do wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"Clearly I did something wrong when I was raising that boy."

Blaise laughed. "So, we'll cut the twins. How many is that?"

"Just the two Patil sisters."

Pansy contemplated the list. "How about…Hannah Abbot?"

"Did you just pick a name at random?"

"Not at all. We'll go alphabetically from here."

Blaise laughed and reached for the list. As he did so, his fingers brushed hers and she let herself have that moment in time.


	5. Friday, October 7th

Friday, October 7th

Parvati Patil (G) X

Padma Patil ® X

Lavender Brown (G)

Ginny Weasley (G)

Mandy Brocklehurst (H)

Su Li (H)

Lisa Turpin (H)

Hannah Abbot (R)

Susan Bones (R)

Megan Jones (R)

Tracey Davis (S)

Daphne Greengrass (S)

Morgan St. Claire (S)

Abernathy Whitmore (G)

Pansy Parkinson (S) X

Amanda Havoc (G)

Demetria LeGaea ( R)

Violet Jamethiel (H)

Willow Rosenburg (R )

Morrietta Gambrelli (S)

Danica Shore (H)

Daughtry Willowcrest (S)

Dea Aralune (S)

The damn duck was judging her. Pansy could feel it.

"Stop looking at me like that," she muttered to the duck.

"Did you say something, Pansy?" Dea Aralune asked.

"You're a rotten bitch who needs to rot in hell," Pansy said aloud.

"And just what have I done this time?" Dea asked calmly.

Pansy looked significantly at the duck.

"Wasn't me. Draco dropped it off earlier. I didn't know you didn't like them."

Pansy forced herself to take a deep breath and smile at Dea. "No, just a personal joke. I'll have to return the favor."

As soon as Dea was out of the room, Pansy snatched up the duck. For a moment she thought of throwing the duck out then thought better of it and stuffed the duck into her bag.

After all, it was cute.

888

"So!"

Draco looked up as Pansy slammed her hands down on the table.

"So, what?"

"You're the one behind the ducks."

"Oh, finally figured that one out, have you?"

"You rat, you complete and utter rat."

"Hey, I gotta get my kicks some how."

"Do you want me to kill you?"

"Talk all you want. I have plans for this afternoon."

Pansy was taken aback. Could he actually be making a pass? On who?

"What are you up to?"

"Torturing the hell out of Weasley."

Pansy considered asking which one then thought better of it. There were only the two of them left after all. Obviously he had some plan that involved Ron Weasley. She'd ask Morrietta about it later. That girl knew everything about Ron, not to mention Harry. It was rather pathetic really, but at least she was being smart about it. From what Pansy knew, Morrie was good friends with both Ginny (the ex of her object of affection) and Granger (The best friend of her object of affection). Now if only the girl would get up the nerve. Pansy had a thing for aesthetics and Morrietta's long brown hair would look just perfect next to Potter's tossled black.

Pansy blinked suddenly. She had been looking over the list lately and she happened to notice that Morrietta was on the list. That wasn't to say Morrietta wouldn't fall in love with Draco, given a chance but he would clearly be her second choice.

She pursed her lips. Draco would probably get on with Morrie well enough but if he ever did fall for her, it would hurt to know he wasn't her first choice in the matter, that she only went for him because she saw her true goal as unattainable.

Which he wasn't. Not really any way, Pansy thought pensively. She suddenly found herself smiling.

"What has you in such a good mood?" Draco asked.

Pansy looked at him. "Oh, nothing. See you in Hogsmeade later, right?"

He nodded.

With a new plan and a new name to cross off her list, Pansy skipped out of the room.

888

The day was positively dragging. Finally the bell rang for the final class. Draco breathed a sigh of relief. He had found out from Morrietta Gambrelli that the youngest Weasley was indeed planning an afternoon in Hogsmeade. Morrie had looked at him funny when he asked about it but Draco put that out of his mind. Maybe the girl just had a crush on the boy.

Well, she was welcome to him once Draco destroyed his older brother's life.

The plan was simple. So simple there was no way it could go wrong.

He would hit on the boy a few times. The poor kid wouldn't stand a chance.

The weather was still nice so he pulled on a tee shirt but went without the jacket today. He pulled on a pair of jeans that he knew (from the looks Morgan St. Claire and Tracey Davis gave him when they thought he wasn't looking) he looked good in.

"How do I look?" he asked Pansy as he came into the main room.

She looked up from her book for a second. "Edible, don't you agree, Blaise?"

Blaise looked up as well, grinning. "Indeed."

Draco made a face at them and they laughed in unison. He took a moment to admire the pair of them. They clearly belonged together. Even if they didn't know it.

He shook his head. He had bigger fish to fry.

888

Ginny made a face as she fought back bile.

"God that was nasty!"

Hermione laughed. "Now you know why I had to put it in with Ron's medicine. It doesn't taste as bad when cut down."

"Is that it?" Ginny asked, looking at her now empty glass.

"Yup. You're totally fine."

Ginny reached back and fingered her hair. "When does it start?"

"Right now. It won't grow much today, maybe an inch or two. So…are you going to Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah. How about you?"

"Uh…yeah. Um…I'm meeting Ron at Zonko's."

Ginny grinned at her friend. "Awesome! Is this an official…date?"

Hermione blushed but nodded.

"Excellent!"

888

The damn boy was more damn trouble than he was worth. Draco growled in annoyance and continued looking for the red hair of the Weasley kin.

Several Slytherin girls kept sending him significant glances and flaunting what they had. That wasn't to say they didn't have a lot, because they did. But he was on a mission and he knew how these things ended.

Draco was just starting to think the Gen boy might not have come when a flash of red caught his eye.

Two flashes of red, he thought happily.

Gen had his back to Draco as he approached. He was talking to his brother and Granger, who looked like Christmas had come early. Clearly Gen was excusing himself. Draco hurried over. There was no point to this if Ronnikins wasn't there.

Draco took a brief moment to admire the view. Gen had a very, very nice ass. He was wearing a pair of loose jeans, held up by a belt and a pink wife beater. He nearly laughed. The kid was totally gay.

He hesitated for a moment before the kid said something that totally worked.

"Don't worry, Mione," he said, his voice a light tenor, almost feminine. "I'll find someone. It's not like I'm gay or anything."

"Don't be too sure about that," Draco drawled.

Granger's jaw dropped as she saw him for the first time. Ron-boy's face turned an interesting shade of red.

Gen stiffened then turned to him.

The first thing Draco noticed was that Gen had the most incredible lips he had ever seen, on a man or a woman. They were turned up in amusement and the most amazing shade of pink.

The second thing he noticed was that Gen had boobs.

888

Ginny plucked at her tee-shirt.

"I am sooo sorry, Ginny!" Padma cried.

Ginny shrugged. "No harm, no foul, Padma."

She pulled off her tee-shirt.

Padma gaped at Ginny's chest and she looked down, wondering if she had forgotten to put on a tanktop this morning. She had remembered but dressed like this, it was pretty obvious that she was a girl.

"Wow…" Padma whispered then blushed before stammering out an apology and disappearing.

Ginny sighed and reached up to finger her hair. It had grown an inch since this morning and she had been forced to pull it back into a low pony-tail.

"You like it?"

Ginny turned to Hermione and Ron as they came up. She noticed how close they were and smiled. "Yeah, so far. We'll see how I feel this time next week."

Hermione smiled back at her. "You want to come to the pub with us?"

Ginny shook her head. "Nah. I'll just keep to my antisocial self."

"Oh, come on, Ginny. You'll never find a boyfriend if you don't get out some."

Ginny laughed. "Don't worry, Mione," she said. "I'll find someone. It's not like I'm gay or anything."

"Don't be too sure about that," drawled a wonderful voice from behind her.

Ginny stiffened. She knew that voice. She semi hated that voice.

She turned to see Draco Malfoy standing behind her. For a moment his smirk remained in place then suddenly his gaze dropped and his jaw dropped.

888

The kid had boobs. Not just man boobs, either. He had real, honest to god boobs.

Holy shit…Gen was a …girl. She was a fucking girl.

A new smile touched those lips, one of pure amusement and delicious glee. Damn those amazing lips.

"Oh, my god!" she exclaimed, very loudly. "You thought I was a guy!"

Draco felt the color drain from his face. Oh, shit. Oh, fucking shit.

She began to laugh. Her laugh was as wonderful as her lips and he wanted to snog her silly.

"Oh, fuck me," he muttered.

(A/N: ahahaha! Draco is such a clueless moron. I love him. :3


	6. Saturday, October 8th

Saturday, October 8th

Parvati Patil (G) X

Padma Patil (R) X

Lavender Brown (G)

Ginny Weasley (G)

Mandy Brocklehurst (H)

Su Li (H)

Lisa Turpin (H)

Hannah Abbot (R)

Susan Bones (R)

Megan Jones (R)

Tracey Davis (S)

Daphne Greengrass (S)

Morgan St. Claire (S)

Abernathy Whitmore (G)

Pansy Parkinson (S) X

Amanda Havoc (G)

Demetria LeGaea ( R)

Violet Jamethiel (H)

Willow Rosenburg (R )

Morrietta Gambrelli (S) X

Danica Shore (H)

Daughtry Willowcrest (S)

Dea Aralune (S)

"Did you hear about what happened in Hogsmeade yesterday?" Blaise asked, handing Pansy a mug of tea.

She took the tea. "No, what?"

He grinned. "Draco hit on a girl."

"That's pretty exciting but why are you grinning like that?"

"Because he thought she was a boy when he hit on her."

Pansy gaped. "Are you shitting me? That is just too damn wonderful! Who was it?"

"Reports vary but if you want to blackmail him into doing anything, this week would be the best time for it."

Pansy laughed and shook her head. "So, have you had any luck convincing him to talk to any of our girls yet?"

"Nah. He was pretty bent out of shape yesterday after that fiasco so I kinda felt it would be best to let him be. How about you?"

"Actually I did manage to cross off one girl."

"Oh? Who?"

"Morrietta."

"Really? She seems just his type."

"But he's not hers."

"I don't follow, he said.

"She's in love with Potter."

"And you crossed her off for that? How sweet of you."

"Ha ha. Say what you will, at least I'm making progress."

"Touche."

8()8()8

"If you say a goddamn thing to me, I will fucking flay you alive," Draco snarled into his essay.

"Is that any way to treat your beloved?"

Draco looked up to see Ginny Weasley smirking down at him.

"Oh, hell," he muttered. "Look, that was a mistake yesterday…"

"That's perfectly fine," she said. "I am more than fine with you leaving me alone."

He pushed himself back in his chair. She was serious. Suddenly, the idea of being around her constantly wasn't so bad an idea. In fact, she was pretty good looking. Her hair had grown another inch in the past day and she looked good. In fact, if it weren't for the baggy clothes and Weasley vibe, he might consider that.

Well who's to say he couldn't? It would annoy the crap out of her brother. He felt a smile flicker across his face.

"Oh? Don't you know that I like you more now that you're a girl?"

"I've always been a girl, you dick head."

"I know and I feel utterly horrible that I haven't given you the proper attention." He rose to his feet. "You see, I wanted to be with you before but the war has always kept us apart."

"You are so completely full of shit, Malfoy."

He laughed. "Oh, my darling. I know you feel—hey! Get back here!"

She laughed as she skipped away. "I don't have to listen to you, darling."

"You wench! I'm not done!"

She just laughed again.

8()8()8

Ginny took a seat beside Hermione at the table. Hermione looked at her friend, eyebrows raised. "What are you so excited about?"

Ginny shrugged and twirled a finger through her hair. "I don't know. I'm just in a good mood, I guess."

"It wouldn't have anything to do with what happened yesterday, would it?"

Ginny laughed. "Maybe it does. I think I might just enjoy this."

"Ginny? You aren't going to take this too far, are you?" Hermione asked.

Ginny looked over at the Slytherin table and twirled a strand of hair around her finger. Malfoy was talking vehemently to Blaise and Theo Nott. Looking at the trio of Slytherins, Ginny had a wonderfully awful idea.

"Hey, Hermione, what do you know about the Slytherin boys?"

8()8()8

"So, you thought the Baby Weasel was a boy?" Theo laughed.

"It's not that damn funny," Draco snapped.

"I beg to differ," Pansy chimed in and Blaise laughed.

"Look, it's over," Draco said. "I'll handle this. It's not like the girl is going to make a fool of me."

"You know," Blaise began but was interrupted as the girl in question came over to the table.

Draco took a second to appreciate the girl. Her hair was an inch longer than it had been this morning and curled coquettishly where it brushed her neck. Her freckles were like drops of cinnamon on her nose and cheeks alike.

How the hell had he never noticed that she was a girl?

She smiled beauteously at him but the smile was quickly transferred to Theo. Draco felt his jaw go slack.

"Hi, Theo."

"H-hi, Ginny," he stammered.

"I was wondering if you could help me with my Potions essay. I mean, we are in the same class."

Theo looked quite shell shocked. His mouth moved but no sound came out.

"Ginny, darling," Draco said, rising to his feet and offering her a charming smile. "Why don't I help you? I do have full marks in that class, princess."

"No thanks," she said. "I'd rather you help me, Theo."

Theo pulled himself together. "Sure thing. Why don't we work on that tomorrow around three?"

She smiled. "Thank you, Theo."

Then with a flick of her crimson hair, she turned back to her table.

As soon as she was gone, Theo leaned back and grinned. "I gots a date," he sang.

"What the hell?" Draco demanded.

"Drake, I'm not gonna fall for her if that's what you're thinking. I figure, she's using me to try to get you jealous. So you be immune to it. She'll get pissed off and she'll make it her goal to get you. And you can keep ignoring her."

Draco grinned. "Gotta hand it to you, Theo. That's a kick ass plan."

"Hey, Draco," Pansy said, "why don't you take it a step further?"

Draco looked at Theo and Blaise who both looked interested. "Do explain."

"Well, you can play around with a bunch of girls. You know, hang with a different girl every couple days. In fact, you might just find one you like and in addition you'd get to piss off the girl."

Draco grinned. "What would I do with out friends like you?"

(A/N: Gotta love Slytherin iniative. And, yes you can anticipate much more DG interaction in chapters to come.


	7. Sunday, October 9th

Sunday October 9th

Lavender Brown (G)

Ginny Weasley (G)

Mandy Brocklehurst (H)

Su Li (H)

Lisa Turpin (H)

Hannah Abbot ®

Susan Bones ®

Megan Jones ®

Tracey Davis (S)

Daphne Greengrass (S)

Morgan St. Claire (S)

Abernathy Whitmore (G)

Amanda Havoc (G)

Demetria LeGaea ( R)

Violet Jamethiel (H)

Willow Rosenburg (R )

Danica Shore (H)

Daughtry Willowcrest (S)

Dea Aralune (S)

"So?" Blaise asked.

"So, what?" Pansy returned.

"We have him considering girls."

"That we do. Who should we pick first?"

"I'd have to say that the Gryffs are gonna be the hardest to convince. Why don't we start there?"

He leaned over the list.

"Hey Blaise," Pansy said, looking at the list. "What's the chance that Draco will fall for girl Weasley?"

Blaise looked at her in surprise. "Off hand? I'd say none at all. He hates her. She might not be willing to admit it but she hates him too."

"What about that thin line between love and hate?" Pansy pointed out.

He shrugged. "That doesn't seem like the kind of thing Draco would do. He wouldn't leave everything for a girl and he loves to be wicked."

Pansy couldn't help but think how cute Draco would look with Ginny. So would he really stay strong? She had seen how he looked at the girl. No, Draco would be lucky if he got through this year with his heart intact. She looked at the list. Now that she was certain her list would work, she could look at other things.

Like Blaise.

8()8()8

Theo was waiting for Ginny when she came into the Potions room. "So, princess, why are you really here?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, flicking her long bangs out of her face.

"You have full marks in all your classes, including Potions. I know because Dea Aralune cheats off you all the time. Now, wanna tell me why you really want to hang with me?"

"Haven't you already figured it out? I'm pissed at Malfoy."

"Because he didn't notice you were a girl?"

"That, and he's not going to leave me alone."

"That's our boy. You're right. He's not going to leave you alone. So what do you do? Flirt with me?"

"Would you be interested?"

"No offense, princess, but no. You're a great looker, especially with the longer hair, but not my type. But I am going to help you."

"Why? You don't like me."

"That's true, princess, at least I don't like you like that. But I like fucking with Malfoy. And you make that easy."

Ginny smiled. "All right then."

8()8()8

"For the last time, Creevey, tell me where Brown is," Draco drawled.

The poor kid looked scared out of his mind. Draco had no patience right now.

"Are you looking for me?"

Draco turned around to see the blonde girl in question and smiled at her. "Morning, Lavender."

"Malfoy, I don't mean to be rude, but could you please leave my boyfriend alone?"

Draco stared at her. "What?"

"You didn't know?"

Draco turned to see Ginny Weasley smirking at him.

"Damn you to hell," he muttered to her.

"They started dating two days ago. Don't blame me if you can't keep up on the local gossip," she purred to him.

(A/N: This one ended up a short chapter. Huh. Never noticed it. Still, hope you all like!


	8. Monday, October 10th

Monday, October 10th

Ginny Weasley (G)

Mandy Brocklehurst (H)

Su Li (H)

Lisa Turpin (H)

Hannah Abbot ®

Susan Bones ®

Megan Jones ®

Tracey Davis (S)

Daphne Greengrass (S)

Morgan St. Claire (S)

Abernathy Whitmore (G)

Amanda Havoc (G)

Demetria LeGaea ( R)

Violet Jamethiel (H)

Willow Rosenburg (R )

Danica Shore (H)

Daughtry Willowcrest (S)

Dea Aralune (S)

"Why the hell didn't anyone tell me that Lavender Brown is in a relationship with that Creevey boy?" Draco asked.

Pansy looked at Blaise who shrugged.

"When did they get together?" Pansy asked calmly.

"Like two days ago."

"Well there you have it. We compiled this list over three days ago."

Draco heaved a sigh. "As much as I want to, I guess I can't blame the pair of you."

"No, you can't so suck it up and deal. We're not your babysitters, Malfoy," Blaise snapped.

Pansy and Draco stared at him. He had never been consciously mean to either of them before. Sure, he put up a good front for the first years but the three of them were very different from their facades.

"What's wrong, Blaise?" Draco asked, genuinely concerned.

Blaise ran a hand over his face. "I'm sorry, guys. I didn't have much sleep last night. I guess I'm kinda cranky."

"Maybe you just need a girl," Draco commented, watching the look on Pansy's face.

"Excuse me," he said, grabbing Pansy's arm and pulling her from the room.

"What?" she said as soon as they were out of the room.

"You fancy him."

She blinked. "No, I don't."

"Yes you do, Pans. You've fancied him since you met him. Look, Pansy, I know you. You're one of my best friends, and I think I know you well enough to know when you're lying to me and to yourself."

Pansy looked away. "Just you. I've been lying to you. I've always known that I love him, Draco. I just don't know what to do."

Draco took Pansy's face in his hands and kissed her forehead. "Pansy."

Pansy smiled at him. "Thank you, Draco."

8()8()8

Ginny scribbled her notes hastily.

"Hey girl."

She looked up as Theo took a seat beside her. "Hey Theo. Are we allowed to be seen together in public?"

"Of course," he said, pulling out his Potions book and ingredients bag. "We're romantically involved, my dear."

Ginny bit back a laugh. "That we are. Are you to be my partner today?"

"If you'll have me."

"Sure. Have a seat."

"Already did."

"Ha ha."

Ginny might have said more but Snape came into the dungeon just then. His eyes lingered on Theo and Ginny. Ginny usually partnered with Colin but he was hanging with Amanda Havoc now. Amanda and Lavender were best friends and so it was only natural for them to hang together now. Ginny understood. She missed Colin but she understood.

Snape eyed the new pairing but didn't question it. "Today we will be making several different potions. Each pair will be given a different potion. I will take careful note of which group gets each potion and you will be graded accordingly."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. This was awfully strange. Usually Snape gave everyone the same project.

Snape seemed to read her mind for he continued. "Each group will be given a potion based on their particular skills. At the end of the term, the students who have progressed the farthest will be invited to participate this summer in the World Potions Challenge in Prague this summer."

Ginny sat up straighter. The World Potions Challenge only came around once every ten years. If she made it in she would have the chance to go to just about any school in the world and get pretty much a full ride.

Theo leaned over. "Weasley, I don't know about you, but I really want this."

She grinned at him. "If you ruin this for me, I will murder you in your sleep."

"Good enough for me."

8()8()8

"Okay," Draco began. "I understand that we're competing for this challenge, but why, Granger, did I have to get paired with you?"

Hermione glanced at him as she continued to dice the lungwort. "It's painfully obvious," she said in a tight tone. "We're the best in this class but you don't work well with others. We're each good enough to get in by ourselves but the WPC is a group effort. You have to have a team. I think Snape wants you to be the one to go, but I'm the only one who can keep you on track."

"Think highly of yourself, do you, Granger?" he sneered.

She looked over at him. "No more than you think of yourself if you really think you can take on Ginny."

Draco glanced over at her. He hesitated in his slicing of the mandrake root. "You think I can't handle her?"

"I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into."

"Is that so?"

"Tell me, Malfoy, have you ever seen her mad?"

Draco had to admit he hadn't. Hermione smirked. "I'll tell you about it some time."

"When?" he pestered, curious in spite of himself.

"When we get our score back on this potion and if it isn't a perfect mark, I will tell you nothing."

"Fair enough," he muttered.

8()8()8

Padma rustled through her bag, muttering to it as she did so.

"Finally," she sighed, pulling out a quill.

"Excuse me."

Padma shrieked and dropped her bag. The objects within spilled everywhere. "Oh!"

"Sorry," Blaise Zabini said, kneeling to help her pick up her stuff. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Padma looked up into his brown eyes and smiled back at him. "That's okay."

(A/N: Well, I'm pretty sure you guys can see where I'm going with this WPC part. :3


	9. Tuesday, October 11th

Tuesday, October 11th

Lavender Brown (G)

Ginny Weasley (G)

Mandy Brocklehurst (H)

Su Li (H)

Lisa Turpin (H)

Hannah Abbot ®

Susan Bones ®

Megan Jones ®

Tracey Davis (S)

Daphne Greengrass (S)

Morgan St. Claire (S)

Abernathy Whitmore (G)

Amanda Havoc (G)

Demetria LeGaea ( R)

Violet Jamethiel (H)

Willow Rosenburg (R )

Danica Shore (H)

Daughtry Willowcrest (S)

Dea Aralune (S)

Blaise had screwed up. He knew it. It wasn't like he meant for this to happen. God knows he didn't.

He thought about yesterday. Yesterday he had run into Padma and that had sparked all kinds of different mistakes.

He didn't like Padma like that. There was only one girl he liked like that and that was his best friend. That's right, he fell in love with his best friend.

It wasn't like he meant to. It just…happened. When they first started school, he barely noticed Pansy. She thought she was in love with Draco and he was ready to let her think that. But she wasn't. Not for the past two years and he had naturally gravitated to her and she to him.

Now he was in love with her and she didn't know.

So he was taking the easy way out. He was getting involved with a girl he didn't like.

"Hey, Draco, are you going to the Halloween party?"

Blaise shook himself out of his reverie and focused on his two friends.

"I don't know," Draco said, twisting his finger through his hair. "I guess it could be fun but I don't know if there will be any girls there."

"I'll be there," Pansy purred.

Draco laughed. "And that's an incentive, how?"

"I'll be there," Blaise said.

Pansy looked over at him with a smile and he felt his heart twist inside him. He loved her but he didn't know if she loved him. She couldn't, could she? No. He was just her best friend.

So he said the hardest thing he'd ever said.

"And so will Padma."

"Padma?" Draco repeated, a little slow on the uptake. Blaise couldn't look at Pansy. He knew she had figured it out and he wasn't sure which would hurt more, her bright exuberance or her disdain towards whoever he was with.

"Yeah. We're dating."

Draco stiffened. Then he looked at Pansy. This time Blaise forced himself to look too.

"Excuse us," Draco muttered, grabbing Pansy's arm and pulling her out of the room.

Watching the heartbroken look on Pansy's face, Blaise realized something else. His greatest mistake wasn't dating Padma. It was thinking that Pansy didn't care for him the same way he cared for her.

Alone, Blaise sat down and put his head in his hands.

8()8()8

Draco put his arms around Pansy. They were alone in the Slytherin bathroom. She put her head against his chest and screamed into his shirt.

The screams came first. She clung to him, screaming her fury into his shirt. Her hands lashed out at him and he stood there, taking every blow.

Finally the fury took its course and the tears came. She clung to him with every bit of strength she had.

Draco said nothing. No words were needed. He just held his friend as she cried for a love she had lost before she even knew it.

8()8()8

Ginny flicked back her long hair and smirked as she saw Draco. She usually didn't see him during the day except the occasional passing in the hall. Which meant there really wasn't that much opportunity to antagonize him.

He was leaning against the wall, looking at something down in his hands.

"Hey, Malfoy," she said, dancing over to him.

He glanced up at her briefly and the haunted look in his eyes stopped her cold.

"Weasley," he croaked, his voice sounding dull and unused. "Perhaps we could call a cease fire for today."

She flinched at the emotion in his voice. What the hell had happened to him? She glanced down at paper he was holding. It was a picture. In it were three people: Draco, Pansy and Blaise.

Blaise had his arms around Pansy and they were laughing about something, glancing back at each other. Draco was in the picture as well, but he looked like more of an afterthought. He was smiling in the picture and Ginny was struck by how incredibly good looking he was when he smiled like that. In the picture he was smiling at his friends, hands in his pockets.

He was happy, she thought in surprise.

She looked back at his drawn face and shrugged, trying to make light of it. "Sure, Malfoy. Just make sure you make it clear that you called the cease fire. I don't want it circulating that you 'convinced' me."

His lips twitched.

Ginny smirked, trying to make it seem like they planned this whole thing, and walked away. But in her heart, she was in a very different place.

Draco Malfoy cared about someone other than himself. Ginny knew that Blaise and Padma were dating. Parvati had come into the common room last night, all up in arms about the fact. From the looks on her face, Pansy wouldn't be happy about this.

So Pansy liked Blaise. What did that mean? Nothing, really. But it bothered Draco that Pansy was sad.

Ginny walked towards her potions class, thinking.

8()8()8

Hermione accepted the potions sheet from Professor Snape but her mind wasn't on the potion she had to make next.

Draco was not being his usual self. None of the Slytherins were for that matter. Pansy seemed downright depressed and the other Slytherins were following Draco's lead and ignoring everyone else.

"If I ask you what the hell, will you bite my head off?" Hermione said as Snape handed back the results from their potion yesterday. Snape had told them that they would have today to study and prepare for the potion tomorrow. Thursday would be the same, which meant they would have three potions due a week.

Draco glanced at the potion on their paper then at their score which was a perfect one. "Technically, you owe me an explanation, Granger. Not the other way around."

It took Hermione a moment to remember her promise yesterday. "You sure you want to know what Ginny is like when she's mad?"

"You afraid to tell me?" he asked, flipping his book open to the potion in question.

"Not at all. Ginny picks the thing that will get you the most pissed off and she does that."

"That doesn't make sense, Granger."

"Okay, let's put it this way," she began. "Ginny knows exactly what makes you tick and she knows exactly which buttons to push when she wants to make you suffer. She's like Mozart. She knows exactly what keys make the best melody and even as you curl up, hating that haunting tune, you have to admit she's right."

"Nice analogy, Granger. Has she ever been mad at you?"

"Why are all the Slytherins in default mode?" she returned.

"Fair enough. They're being passive because that's what I told them to do. Has she ever been mad at you?"

"Yes, once. Why did you tell them to be passive?"

"Because I'm in one hell of a mood and I don't really feel like picking them out of their little feuds. What did she do? When she was mad at you," he clarified.

Hermione leaned back and settled into her story. "During the war, Charlie and Bill, Ginny's brothers got taken captive. At the time, Harry, Ron and I were still with the Weasley family and Ginny wanted to launch an offensive. Ron and Harry were for it but I told them we couldn't. We still needed to find the other Horocruxes. They listened to me."

"I can't imagine that went over well with Baby Weasley."

"You imagined right. Ginny was pissed. She accused Ron and Harry of being pansies and verbally bitch slapped me."

"What did she say?"

"Why are you in such a bad mood?" Hermione returned.

"Because Blaise is being an idiot and Pansy's the one getting hurt."

Hermione was taken back by his reply. He smirked at her look. "What? The Ice king can't have friends?"

Hermione looked away. "Ginny told me," she finally continued. "She told me that if it was Ron with the enemy, I would walk through hell for him. She was right. We all knew it. And that's what hurt the most. So the three of us got together and launched an offensive. Turns out it was the right thing to do. We caught them off guard and destroyed half the Death Eaters in one night."

"And if Ginny hadn't convinced you?"

Hermione smiled but there was no humor in her smile. "Who the hell knows?"

(A/N: Who feels sorry for Pansy right now? I know I do. And don't be too sad. This isn't the end of Blaise/Pansy. They're just on hold right now.

To Guest- I do like HP/PP but not for this fic.


	10. Wednesday, October 12th

Wednesday, October 12th

Ginny wasn't sure if the cease fire was over. The Slytherins were acting more normal today but that didn't mean any thing. She knew from Theo that they were allowed to resume normal activity but Draco had made a formal statement that he was done cleaning up their messes.

"So Draco always cleans up after the other Slytherins?" Ginny asked as they started to make a Draught of Sleeping Death. The potion was harder than the last one they had made but not by much. They had gotten full marks on their last potion.

The rest of the class was working faster and more efficiently than they had on Monday. Snape had announced yesterday that while the top team would go on to compete, the top three teams would be exempt from the potions portion of the OWLs this year. Ginny had no doubts that she and Theo were going to be in the top three groups but she wanted first.

"Pretty much," Theo replied, slicing his wormwood bark with quick, efficient strokes. Ginny had to admit he was pretty sexy when he was in his smock but that could be just her. She had a thing for Potions boys.

"Does this mean that the Slytherins will ease up?"

"Until Draco revokes this mandate. Either that or start doing the cleaning ourselves and trust me, none of us really want that."

"Is it so hard?"

"Not really. It's just easier to let someone else do it and Draco is damn good at that sort of thing. Good god, woman. Are you finished with the cinnamon already?"

Ginny looked down and sure enough she was. "Yeah, I guess I am. Why?"

He shook his head. "You're damn fast, you know that, don't you?"

She shrugged. "Years of practice. I was always sous chef to my mom when she cooked."

"Sous chef?" Theo asked, interest thick in his voice.

So Ginny spent the remainder of the period explaining a muggle kitchen to Theo as they made their potion.

"That sounds wicked cool. Like potions, but cooler. I mean you do it all with just a microwave and stove."

"Well, they have ovens too," Ginny pointed out as she bottled their potion.

"Ovens?" he gasped. "What are those?"

Ginny chuckled. "Tell you about it tomorrow."

8()8()8

Draco rubbed his neck and tried to focus on the charm he was supposed to be performing. His mind, however, kept slipping back to the events of the past forty eight hours.

Blaise was being a moron and there was nothing Draco could do about it. He knew there was nothing he could do about it and it was killing him. He knew he should distance himself from it all. He really should go back to his war with Weasley girl. That would keep him distracted. Besides, she was cute when she was flustered and he kinda wanted to see how she would behave when she got pissed off.

The problem was, he had almost bonded with Granger yesterday. It was strange to think about but in a way he kinda owed her. They weren't friends or anything but he decided to be a little nicer to her. At the same time, he wanted to be a little mean to her. She was definitely fueling his fascination with all things Baby Weasel and doubtless if he kept being her partner that fascination was going to grow.

"Any time now, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Flitwick said timidly.

Draco snapped out of his thoughts and tried to remember what spell he was supposed to be doing. Just as he thought he might have it, bubbles burst into existence before him. He blinked. He sure as hell didn't do that. The snickering from the Gryffindors stopped and Flitwick applauded.

"Good job, Mr. Malfoy. You may return to your seat."

Draco turned back to his seat. As he went, he saw Hermione Granger put her wand away. As he approached her seat, he waited until the boys were looking away and nodded his thanks to her. A smile flickered across her lips and for a second he thought he could tell what Weasley boy saw in the girl.

As he walked past her, he realized that whether he liked it or not, things between him and Granger would never be the same.

8()8()8

Ginny dug through her bag as she knelt in the corridor. The hall was deserted but she couldn't find what she was looking for.

"Looking for something, Weasley?"

Ginny looked up as Draco Malfoy walked towards her, holding the small potions book. "Never fancied you getting this into potions," he commented.

"Well, Theo just makes it soo interesting," Ginny purred, snatching at the book.

Draco was three inches taller than her and he held the book out of her reach but only just. "Weasley, I know you're fantastic at Potions."

"And how do you know that?" Ginny demanded.

"Because aside from Granger and me, you're the only student Snape's seriously considering sending to the WPC this summer."

Ginny's heart skipped a beat. She was being seriously considered?

"That's good to hear," she managed to drawl. "I take it our cease fire is over."

He tossed the book back to her. "Yeah, darling, it is."

"Good," she said, catching the book. She turned to leave but he called after her.

"Yeah?" she replied over her shoulder.

"Do me a favor, Weasley."

She thought he was going to ask her to stop taking extra lessons with Theo and she was prepared with a jealousy dig but he just said, "Leave Pansy out of this."

She blinked. It took her a moment before she realized what he was talking about. Pansy was in a bad place right now, what with Blaise being with another girl. Even after she figured that one out, it took another moment for the green eyed beast in her to subside enough that she could shrug.

"What ever."

Ginny turned around again and clutched her book to her chest, wondering just what the hell that was about. She wasn't in love with Malfoy… was she?


	11. Thursday, October 13th

Thursday, October 13th

"Draco, you have a letter from your dad," Blaise said.

Draco looked at his friend. He wasn't sure if he was ready to forgive the boy. Blaise seemed to read his thoughts and held out his hands, a look of contrition on his face. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know that Pansy liked me like that."

"Maybe you should have asked," Draco said. "You really hurt her, Blaise. Can you imagine what it must feel like when your best friend, who's a die hard blood purist, dates someone who isn't a Slytherin? More importantly when he doesn't look at you first. Pansy's your best friend and she's mine too. You should have asked."

Blaise looked away. "Draco…I…" he sighed. "Hell, I don't know what to say. I'm off the edge of the map now. This wasn't supposed to happen and there's no going back. As much as I want to, going back would only make it worse, I think."

Draco frowned at Blaise but didn't ask him to elaborate. He took the letter from Blaise and watched the tall dark student walk away. His mind was full of what Blaise had said. Just what had he meant by all that?

Before he could give himself a headache, Draco distracted himself with the letter in his hands. It was from his father, as Blaise had said and Draco sat down to read it.

8()8()8

Ginny flipped lazily through her Potions text. Beside her, Theo was frantically taking notes.

"Aren't you going to even try to study?" he finally asked, pausing long enough to stretch his fingers.

Ginny shrugged. "Why bother? I've done it at least half a dozen times before?"

Theo stared at her. "You've made a Wolfsbane potion before?" he asked, incredulity thick in his voice.

"Yup. Tonks and I made them during the war for Lupin. We'd alternate, you know?"

"Oh," Theo said, and set his quill down. "How is Tonks, by the way?"

Ginny shrugged. "Doing better. I don't think she's ready to let go of Lupin just yet but Mum says she's taking care of Teddy now so that's not a bad thing."

Theo nodded. "She's getting on then?"

"Seems to be. Mum's being good about it too, you know. Not pressuring her to move past it or anything."

They were silent for a few minutes as Theo jotted down a few more notes at a much more sedate pace, this time.

"Does Malfoy like Parkinson?" she finally blurted.

Theo glanced at her in surprise. "Um, yeah, but not like that, you know? They've been friends since they were preverbal. Pansy thought she loved him for the longest time there but finally they both realized it wasn't meant to be, you know?"

Ginny nodded but she couldn't deny the relief that washed through her at his words.

8()8()8

Draco was very upset with his father and had been for well over a year now. Almost fourteen months ago, Lucius Malfoy tried to pressure his son into getting the Dark Mark. Draco wanted nothing to do with it.

Lucius was over that particular hurdle and was onto a new one. Draco wasn't ready to fully forgive his father, but somehow it seemed like his father hadn't really wanted that for him. Lucius had made no secret of his desires for his son, but despite having the ability, he never forced the issue.

Now Lucius had a new bone to chew on: The issue of Draco's apparent bachelor hood.

Draco sighed and reread his father's letter again. Once again his father was imploring him to seek a romantic interest.

Draco set the letter aside and a smile flitted over his face as he thought of the last time he had received a letter like this. That was when he had first started this offensive against the littlest Weasley.

Draco leaned back as an idea squirmed its way into his head. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Piss off his father and piss off the baby? Not to mention piss off older Weasley who was already annoyed by how much attention Draco was paying to his darling baby sister.

Draco laughed and for the first time in almost fourteen months, reached for a pen to reply to his father's owl.

8()8()8

Molly Weasley smiled at Tonks as the younger woman smiled at Charlie who was playing air pilot with Teddy. He threw the young boy up in the air, catching him as the child laughed with delight.

Tonks rose to her feet and held out her hands. Charlie swung around and deposited the child in his mother's arms. Tonks smiled at him then transferred that gaze to her son.

"Want me to get it?" Charlie asked as the doorbell rang.

Molly shook her head, smiling as Charlie put his arm around Tonks' shoulders. She wasn't one to push this sort of thing, but she could see the writing on the wall here and a few moments alone wouldn't hurt.

Molly walked to the front door and opened it in time for Lucius Malfoy to point his wand in her face.

"What has your daughter done to my son?" he demanded, a touch of desperation behind his clear outrage.

Molly simply stared at him.

"Lu-cius!" Narcissa hissed, shoving his arm down as she hurried up to the door. She offered a platonic smile to Molly then commenced glaring at her husband. "Put that down this instant!"

"Mum? What's going on?" Charlie asked, coming out of the kitchen closely followed by Tonks and Teddy.

"Nymphadora!" Narcissa sang, clapping her hands together. "My darling niece. And this must be the infamous Teddy."

"Still wondering what's going on," Charlie voiced as Tonks allowed her aunt to coo over her son.

"Your daughter," Lucius began to Molly. He lifted his hand, wand raised but one glare from his wife sent the wand back into his pocket. He cleared his throat, clearly uncertain how to proceed without the threatening aspect of his wand.

"What has Ginny done?" Charlie asked, his voice tight.

"Clearly she has put some sexual spell on my son," Lucius stated, a bit more calm now.

Charlie guffawed. "What? Ginny? A sexual spell? On your son?"

Lucius bristled. "And just what is wrong with my son?"

"Lucius, you are being less than helpful," Narcissa said, handing her great nephew back to Tonks. "Let's start at the beginning. Molly, dear, my husband has decided that our son needs to find himself a girl. I have to say the idea is not entirely repugnant to me and I confess I may have egged him on a bit as well. Draco has been quite against it but just this afternoon, he sent us this letter."

Narcissa fished out a piece of parchment and handed it over to Molly. Charlie read over her shoulder.

Dearest Mum and Father,

I'm sorry I haven't talked to you in a while but you must admit I had good reason. Dad was trying to pressure me and you both know I don't respond too well to that in any situation. In any case, recently I have more reason to want to avoid you both but my beloved assures me that the truth will set me free. She is so good to me, I honestly can't explain it.

The fact of the matter is, Mum, Ginny Weasley and I are dating. Now before Dad jumps to conclusions, I am not under a spell. We honestly love each other and if you can't handle that, I wish you the best of luck but I am afraid that as I am of a legal age and my beloved and I are more than willing to strike off on our own.

The usual things followed. Molly stared at it. "Well, Narcissa, I have to say this is the first I've heard of this."

"That is it!" Lucius said, face red. "Tomorrow we go into Hogwarts and demand that our children explain this!"

For once, no one seemed inclined to argue with him.

(A/N: Ahahahahaha! Silly Draco. Gotta admit he's winning this round.

To Guest- I know the DG angle is overdone but I just like it. It makes me happy.


	12. Friday, October 14th

Friday, October 14th

Ginny looked up as Hermione poked her head into the sixth year girls dorm. "What's the buzz, Mione?" she asked.

"Um, don't kill me okay? But Dumbledore wants to see you in his office."

"Why would I kill you?" Ginny asked, sweeping her now long hair into a ponytail.

"Because Malfoy is going to be there too. Apparently this has something to do with the both of you."

Ginny sighed. "Ah hell. I'll live. Thanks, Mione. See you at lunch."

"Actually, I'll be in the library. Research for Monday's potion. Wanna join?"

"Yeah. I'll see you there. Eleven twenty?"

"You got it. Have fun in the meeting."

Ginny rolled her eyes but grinned. She jogged out of the room and managed to avoid Ron in the common room. He would have a fit if he knew what was going on.

8()8()8

Draco was trying his hardest to decide just how he should be feeling right now. Part of him wanted to laugh for hours until he ran out of breath, until he ran out of time.

The rest of him wanted to hide in a little corner and pray to god that Ginny never showed up.

If Draco had thought for an instant that his parents would react like this, he never would have said a word. Not that he was afraid of his father's paltry version of vengeance. His dad wasn't going to do shit because Draco was seventeen. He was a legal adult and if he had to sue his father's ass off to prove it, he would.

The door to the office opened and Ginny Weasley walked in. She had her face turned away, saying something to Professor McGonagall who was following her. Before Draco could run for that tempting little corner, her face swept around and those arresting brown eyes pinned him to his chair.

He smirked at her, relying on habits. She didn't look surprised to see him.

Then she noticed who else was in the room.

Her eyes widened and when her gaze snapped back to him it had shifted to the glare he had been expecting.

"Mum," she said, "What's going on?"

"Oh, Ginny!" Molly Weasley cried, leaping to her feet and enfolding her daughter in her arms. This seemed to break the uneasy truce going for Lucius turned to Draco glaring and demanding quite loudly how he could have fallen for this girl. Narcissa began berating her husband. This went on for quite some time as Ginny continued to ask what the hell was going on and Draco stared at a spot on the ceiling with determination, trying quite hard to dissolve into the chair.

"Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy, Mrs. Malfoy, please," Dumbledore said in that quiet voice of his.

The room instantly went silent and Draco eyed the headmaster with appreciation. Usually when his parents started this sort of arguing, he managed to disappear into some little used room in the Manor and stay vanished for a good three hours or so.

"Draco, Ginny, you two have been called here by your parents because they are worried about the two of you."

At the word parents, Draco wondered just where Mr. Weasley was then flinched as he remembered.

"And just what are they worried about?" Ginny asked in a rather tight voice.

"I think I can explain," Draco said, injecting as much charm into his voice as he could. Ginny was not swayed.

"I'm afraid I have rather been a child," he announced. "You see, Professor, my parents have been pressuring me to get…involved with a woman, as it were. I'm not entirely adverse to the idea but in their helpful way, my parents are being quite unhelpful. Well, you know how parents are. I wrote them that letter about my fictional relationship with Miss Weasley here as a way of trying to persuade them to ease off."

Lucius looked as if someone had announced that Santa was real and was bringing him a thermonuclear warhead this year. "Draco…" he began, trying not to let his relief show.

Draco ignored him and turned to Mrs. Weasley instead. "Mrs. Weasley, I am terribly sorry for any trouble my parents have caused you. They should never have brought you into this."

"He's quite right," Narcissa said. "I do apologize, Molly. Lucius and I really should have discussed this before jumping to conclusions."

There was a glint in his mother's eyes that said she had discussed this with his father or at least had tried to. Somedays Draco wondered why the hell his parents were still together.

8()8()8

Draco sighed with relief and sank into the wall as his father's coach finally disappeared from sight. The past half hour had been the worst of his life.

"You cock sucking son of a bitch."

The insult was delivered with little to no malice and actually a generous portion of humor. Draco turned to see his slanderer, none other than the lovely Ginny Weasley. He smirked at her.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth? Cause if you do, I wanna meet her."

"Malfoy, I don't mind this game we're playing, but kindly leave my pa- my mother out of this."

Well how the hell do you react to that? Did he just pretend that that little Freudian slip never happened or did he ride her about the fact that she had no father? Well, the real question was, how much of a douchebag was he feeling?

Draco shrugged. "Done, princess. We'll keep this little tete a tete between the two of us then, shall we?"

She nodded. For a moment they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

"So I take it big brother doesn't know about this?" Draco asked just as the silence was beginning to become palpable.

Ginny smiled. "You wouldn't still be alive if he had."

"Comforting thought. I do have a question, Red. Why am I still alive?"

She shrugged. "Haven't gotten around to it."

"Know what I think?"

"Not really and I don't care to either."

"I think you like me."

She laughed but there was just the slightest edge of panic to her tones of glee. "Think highly of yourself, do you?"

The words struck a cord in him and he realized he had said the same thing to Granger almost a week ago. It annoyed him slightly to have his own words thrown back at him. Then he remembered what Granger said about Ginny getting mad. Looking at the little spitfire in front of him, he couldn't imagine her ever finding something about him that would get to him like it got to Granger.

"Well, girl, you know you're not that unattractive. I mean clearly that's how you made it through the war."

Now she was amused. "Are you saying I slept around to win a war?"

Draco shrugged. "Why not? It worked before, didn't it?"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth he realized exactly how she was going to construe what he just said. If he had been thinking, he would have realized what it would sound like he was trying to say. Which he wasn't. His comment had been in reference to her unhealthy fascination with Potter, and had nothing whatsoever to do with the incident in second year.

She went deadly still and the color drained from her face and he put aside all hope that maybe she hadn't taken it that way.

When she finally spoke again, her voice was even but there was no mistaking the barely concealed fury behind her words.

"At least I didn't get into bed with him voluntarily," she returned.

This time Draco flinched. The words were untrue and he wondered how it was possible that a lie could hurt worse than the worse truth about him.

"I didn't—" he began but she cut him off.

"Maybe not. But the apple never falls far from the tree."

Draco winced again and opened his mouth to say something, anything but before he could make the words come out, she turned and swept away.

"Damn," he muttered.

8()8()8

Ginny woke up to screaming. It wasn't until she paused for a breath that she realized the one screaming was her.

She got a hold of herself just as Hermione burst into the room, closely followed by Ron.

"Ginny? You okay?" Ron asked breathlessly.

She nodded her head weakly and opened her mouth to tell him she was fine but his arms were around her before her jaw had a chance to drop.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, taking a seat beside her.

"Night terrors," Ron answered. "Gin's had them for ages, even before…you know."

"Do they come often?"

Ginny shook her head. "Haven't had one in a long while. That's why I started working hard on potions. I take a dreamless sleep potion every once in a while."

"What was it about?" Ron asked softly.

Ginny shook her head again. She wasn't ready to tell that story yet. Hermione knew that Malfoy had pissed her off earlier but she hadn't given her friend the specifics.

"I can't remember," she lied.

(A/N: Oh, Draco. What are we going to do with you? I warned you he was going to be a moron.


End file.
